


Not Quite a Fairy Tale

by NummySammiches



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Friends to Lovers, Guard Liam, Kingdoms, M/M, On Hiatus, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prince Louis, Prisoner Harry, Progressive Love, commoner harry, commoner niall, commoner zayn, king mark - Freeform, prisoner niall, queen jay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-18
Updated: 2014-04-13
Packaged: 2018-01-16 03:35:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1330453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NummySammiches/pseuds/NummySammiches
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis is the prince and Harry is the prisoner. Or is it the other way around?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fast

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's short.

To Louis, everything went by so fast.

His father died. His mother remarried. His stepfather hates him. His mother is sick. And now, his stepfather treats him like shit.

I know what you're thinking. Another Cinderella story, right? Well... Not so much.

Well, sort of. Yeah, his stepfather treats him like he's less than dirt, but it's mostly just verbal abuse. Louis doesn't really mind it. He puts up with it. For his mother. If she really does love this man, then he'll put up with it for her.

Louis feels bad for himself. But he feels bad for feeling bad for himself. If that makes sense.

He knows there are people in his kingdom that go through much worse things than he does. He has no right to feel bad for himself. He should just suck it up and face the world with his head held high.

◦◌•◌◦◌•◌◦◌•◌◦

To Harry, everything went by so fast.

His king died. The Queen remarried. And the new king was a tyrant.

His family was already poor to begin with, but the old king had tried to help them. But this one, this one tried to squeeze every ounce of money from them.

Harry's family was too poor to pay all the new taxes the new king put on everything, and in result, they became in debt. The king didn't like that. And that's how good ole' Harry is sitting in the castle dungeons, kept hostage until his family payed the debts.


	2. Strange Prince

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unedited. I'll fix it up later.

Louis was a strange prince.

He never really liked all the glory that came with being a royal. He never liked being served. Never liked the clean clothes. He always denied the help of the servants. (Of anybody, really. He didn't want to be so dependent, but that's beside the point.) He always longed to have freedom, to be able to walk around without people trying to bow at his feet.

He envied the villagers, although he felt he shouldn't. The villagers are not free either, but they seem a lot more free than he was. The villagers go through so many struggles and have to face so many pains. Why should he envy them? Why should he resent his title of prince?

Well, he does it anyway. And sometimes, he even dresses like a commoner and goes down to the dungeons. They all know he's the prince, though. But Louis doesn't mind because they treat him like they'd treat anybody else. He loves them for that.

He likes being down in the dungeons. You'd think, it being a dungeon and all, it'd be all gloomy. It's just the opposite, really. The place is overflowing with a warm, friendly atmosphere. All the prisoners there have become friends, having been sent there by the same circumstances. Debts, of course.

Louis' tried to do something to help them all. They were all such kind people. He wanted to do something. He tried talking to his stepfather, but he resented him too much to even listen to a word he said. Louis feels bad for being so useless, but the prisoners all reassure him that everything is fine, he tried his hardest. They're all too nice, so Louis brings them food every time he visits. Which is often. He brings a lot of it too.

Th prisoners eat well for people in a dungeon. It's all thanks to Louis, really, but he refuses to believe it. He thinks it's just flattery.

He hasn't done anything to help.

If anything it's them who've helped him.

When Louis' father died and his mother remarried, he wasn't sure how to react. Everything had gone by so fast, but he felt as if time had stopped. The prisoners tried their best to comfort him, but it was of no use.

Louis was upset but not in the sense of mourning. It scared him. He had not felt the grief he should have felt for his father's death. Instead, he felt like a stranger had died rather than his own father. He had never been particularly close to his father and now he regrets it.

Louis' new stepfather, Mark, despised him. His mother didn't notice or maybe she just didn't care. Probably the latter. Mark treated Louis like a royal would treat a castle hand. Louis wasn't sure if he liked it that way or not.

He sometimes liked being treated like his friends were. It gave him a sense of belonging. He felt like he was one of them too.

A prisoner.

And ironically, he felt more free that way.


	3. Strange Prisoner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is short and terrible, but I couldn't think of anything else, so deal with it. Bear with me, though 'cause I promise next chapter will be better. (Not by much but better.)

Harry was a strange prisoner.

It made no sense, the way he was so happy being in the dungeons. Even the other prisoners, though content now, were full of resentment and anger when they first arrived.

Harry just took it all with a smile on his face. He walked in, head held high, wrists chained and all, with a smile on his face.

The other prisoners had seen their fair share of strange things, but even they had to admit that the sight was strange. The boy himself was a strange sight, really. With his head of curly hair, baby face and gangly limbs, you'd think it'd look weird, but it somehow, in a way, suited the boy.

Although he seemed quite satisfied with himself, he always stayed by himself in his own little corner. He sat quietly and stared off into nothing, as if deep in thought.

No one really bothers him. They let him be. Let him adjust to the strange environment.  
Harry liked it that way. He liked to keep to himself and just listen. He'd listen to the lively chatter of his fellow prisoners. He'd hear their voices but not their words. He liked to just observe and become part of the scenery. To anyone else, the small prison was probably some dingy old corner in a meaningless place, but Harry saw so much more. Harry saw it as a work of art.

To Harry, every little brick that held up the very walls he was held captive in was special. Each brick wore away differently, in their own way. Everything in that dungeon was a part of his life now. All the things that made up the prison— with the little spider webs in the corners and the telltale mouse holes— was now his home.

If anyone else looked into that curly head of his, they would have thought he was absolutely insane. Off his leash. Bonkers. Demented. Some other term for crazy.

But Harry preferred it this way anyways. He liked to wander in the solitary confines of his — apparently lunatic— mind.

He was a prisoner but he felt like a prince in his own kingdom.


End file.
